Miniwaste final conference

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The Miniwaste final conference took place in Rennes (France) on 20-21 November 2012, in the middle of the European Week for Waste Reduction. Gathering around 170 participants, mainly bio-waste experts and decision makers, the conference exhibited the results of the project and highlighted the main tools public authorities can use to address bio-waste prevention at a local or regional scale.

After three years of implementation, the Miniwaste project is reaching its end - a perfect time to meet and have a look at what has been achieved! On the first day of the conference, participants had the opportunity to get an overview of what is done in Europe regarding bio-waste prevention, in particular thanks to an inventory of good practices delivered by ACR+. A debate comparing the strengths and weaknesses of various bio-waste management strategies (separate collection, anaerobic digestion, home composting, etc.) showed that there are various proven instruments to deal with bio-waste. To conclude the first day, participants were given the chance to try out the computerized tool developed as part of the Miniwaste project.

The second day was very practical and interactive: four workshops covering the issues of engagement of citizens to compost, food waste management, monitoring tools (with a particular focus on the protocols developed by Irstea and the computerized tool set up by the Miniwaste partners) and green waste management. Furthermore, representatives from Rennes Métropole, Lipor and Brno presented the actions they organised and the results obtained in mobilising citizens and stakeholders to reduce bio-waste at source on their territory. Finally, a roundtable gave the floor to public authorities' representatives in order to discuss strategic choices regarding bio-waste management at local or regional level. Again, it was challenging to choose among the preferred options from the panelists' interventions as all of them contribute highly to the 3R principle.

All in all, the conference highlighted that, despite the fact that no unique practice to address bio-waste existed, efficient tools are now available to help cities and regions prevent bio-waste, such as good practices, methodologies on bio-waste quantification and quality assessment of compost, and a web tool aimed at helping decision-makers to implement and monitor

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